Everybody

MY CHRISTIAN TESTIMONY

Peter Anselmini11/11/02

I have lived and worked in the New York area all my life. My early days were spent in comfortable surroundings on Long Island, in a large, boisterous and happy family. As a young person, church attendance seemed a joyless obligation. I never thought of it as the weekly culmination of an active, conscious relationship with God.

When I began my career in the advertising business, I set out to try to make a lot of money and to enjoy all the pleasures that life had to offer. Through friends, I was introduced to the trendy new teachings of what was then emerging as the "Human Potential Movement." I had dabbled in philosophy as a college student and was attracted to these new beliefs. With my eventual, greater involvement in "improving" myself through courses like EST (Erhard Seminar Training), I came to believe that I could "engineer" or "control" my future and map out my destiny. And for a while, things were pretty good. I had a great, high-paying job, a car, a motorcycle, a big boat and plenty of dating prospects.

But one hot July afternoon, I found out that I wasn't the center of my universe as I had come to feel, through all the notions and philosophies I had been drawn to. That afternoon I dove off my boat into shallow water and broke my neck. I knew instantly that my life was going to be "transformed forever." In those first few moments I felt God's presence with me. I sensed that this was the start of a journey toward Him. I could see how God had tried on so many occasions before, to gently get my attention. And now, with complete physical brokeness, my eyes and my heart began to turn to Him as my only real comforter. With this radical, new change, I felt that God had a purpose for my life, otherwise, He would have just let me die.

I began to grow and trust more in the Lord during my rehabilitation. My friend Claire Smith came with her Bible and read scripture to me at the bedside. The words she spoke gave me great hope. Afterwards, she brought me to Calvary for Wednesday and Sunday night services. I began to love hearing God's words – they spoke to my concerns and were filled with promises I had begun to trust and believe.

With time, and through the teachings of all the learned speakers at Calvary, I have grown in my awareness of Gods great gift for me, through the atoning blood of Jesus. I recognize that I was, and am, a sinner, in need of God's grace. I am grateful Jesus provides this saving and covering grace, by His death, shed blood and resurrected, glorious new life, through faith alone in Him. I am humbled that I was chosen by God and drawn to Him. I now know that Jesus is my intercessor in times of trouble but also the Word made flesh and our sovereign Lord. He has assured me of an eternal life in His presence. I am awed that Jesus lives in me through the Holy Spirit, as promised to me through Jesus' own words. I love Jesus and want to follow and serve him in the days ahead. I am grateful God has spared me from the pit and a life of eternal separation from Him.

All these things I have learned from His word through my readings and significantly, by the sound biblical teaching of Calvary Baptist Church NYC's gifted pastors and speakers.

Though I stand convicted of my sins, past and present, I know I am washed clean by the atoning blood of Jesus. Today, I seek to grow in my service and obedience to our sovereign King and Lord. This is why I wish to profess my faith and demonstrate my desire to follow and obey Jesus, through a public, adult baptism. To me it is the outward symbol of the change in my heart to follow Jesus, who has washed away my sin and my former life. It is a symbolic re-birth into a spirit-filled life as a follower of Jesus. I want to do this because it is my heart's desire to obey and follow Jesus Christ, in all my da